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Friday, January 01, 2010

Recipe for Mexican Red Lentil Stew with Lime and Cilantro (Vegan)

It's the first day of a brand new decade! Especially for anyone who's getting started on the South Beach diet, we're going to start the year off with a very healthful phase one soup that's not only inexpensive and easy to make, but vegan as well. I adapted this recipe from a new-to-me blog called Budget Bytes, who had adapted it from Andrea Meyers, so you can tell the recipe has a lot of fans! My brother Rand, his partner Bradley, and my nephew Jake all tasted this soup and declared it a winner. I'm having my annual New Year's Day Soup Party today, and this is one of the soups I'm serving.

If you're starting the South Beach Diet in January, or just doing a little phase one tune-up like I do every year, be sure to check out the brand-spanking new Index of South Beach Diet Phase One Recipes from Kalyn's Kitchen. The index will be really helpful for anyone who's doing phase one. I wanted to start the new year with a recipe, but I'll be posting the latest monthly South Beach Diet Phase One Round-up of phase one recipes from Kalyn's Kitchen and other blogs tomorrow. Thanks to my wonderful brother Rand for the new header to remind you that we'll be concentrating on phase one recipes for the entire month of January. Phase one really can be easy, and there's a lot of delicious phase one food coming up.

Red lentils are great for soup because they cook quickly and this recipe starts by bringing the lentils and water to a boil, then letting the lentils sit covered for 30 minutes.

While the lentils are cooking in the hot water, saute chopped onions and celery in olive oil for a few minutes, then add minced garlic and cook a bit more.

When lentils have cooked in the hot water for 30 minutes, add the softened lentils and water to the soup pot and cook about 15-30 minutes more, until lentils are soft.

At this point the soup isn't too much in the looks department, but your kitchen will be smelling wonderful. Taste and see if you want to add salt, pepper, or any more hot sauce.

While soup cooks, chop up a good-sized bunch of cilantro. (I used a whole cup of chopped cilantro, but you could get by with less.)

When lentils are soft and starting to dissolve into the soup, add the lime juice and cilantro and cook about 5 minutes more. Serve the soup with more limes to squeeze if desired. This is good with a dollop of sour cream or vegan sour cream substitute.

Put red lentils in a small pot, rinse and drain if needed, then add 2 cups water. Bring to a boil, turn off heat and cover. Let lentils sit in the hot water 30 minutes.

While lentils are cooking in the water, finely chop onions and celery and mince garlic (or you can use minced garlic from a jar like I did.) Heat olive oil in heavy soup pot, add onion and celery and saute for 3-4 minutes, just long enough that vegetables are starting to soften. Add garlic and cook a few minutes more. Add ground turmeric, ground cumin, and chile powder, stir, and cook 1-2 minutes more.

Add diced roasted tomatoes, vegetable broth, and hot sauce. Add lentils after they have soaked for 30 minutes, then let soup simmer for 15-30 minutes (or until lentils are as soft as you'd like them. I simmered it about 25 minutes.)

While soup cooks, wash, dry and finely chop 1/2 - 1 cup fresh cilantro and squeeze limes to get 1/4 cup fresh lime juice. When the lentils are softened as much as you'd like, stir in chopped cilantro and lime juice and cook 5 minutes more.

Serve hot, with additional cut limes to squeeze into the soup. Can top with sour cream or vegan substitute if desired.

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64 comments:

Kalyn, this is perfect...after two weeks of serious overindulgence (seven bowls of guacamole. SEVEN!), this soup looks nourishing and simple. I am putting it on my menu for this week! I'll let you know how it goes.

This looks great and a perfect start to the new year of recipes! When I saw the picture and read that it was red lentils the first thought was how did you get the red lentils to retain their shapes after cooking.. that had been my main issue with my red lentil soups so far.. they just fall apart too quickly. I think the trick here is to let them soak in hot water, right? Thanks for sharing!

This stew looks delicious and is just what I need to kick off the new year with a healthy start. Thanks so much for the sweet comment you left on my blog! I have been reading yours since way before I started blogging and have found it so inspirational. Happy New Year!

Thanks! I'll be starting the diet on Monday, so I've been going through your phase 1 recipes already. I have a family of four to feed and usually plan a week at a time, so the indices have been very helpful. Thanks so much!

It is so cold here now, and my neighbor asked for help getting his Christmas lights down (she is a really nice older lady that looks after our cats... i could never refuse her). I am still shivering, and want this soup so bad

Wow, this looks tasty! I think I have green lentils in my cupboard- do you think I could use those or should I get myself to the store before the snow arrives to get red lentils? Can't wait to try it. Happy New Year!

I'm a long time reader and fellow South Beacher but have never commented. I too am starting Phase 1 for a little tune up. LOVE the new index! I'vetried and enjoyed MANY of your recipes since your site was recommended to me almost two years ago and wanted you to know how much I appreciate being able to find delicious and imaginative South Beach friendly food! I'm making your salmon packets with tomatoes, garlic, saffron and olives for friends tonight.

Sorry I'm not responding much to comments, but we're having a soup party here! Just wanted to say that green lentils won't be the same at all in this. The red lentils dissolve much more quickly and are milder in flavor. It might taste okay with green ones, but the cooking time and flavor will be very different.

Delicious New Years Soup Party, Kalyn. I had a good sampling of all four soups, the Hopping John, the Mexican Red Lentil, the Sauerkraut, and I forgot the other soup name. I understand if you sip these soups, they all have some significance to good luck in the New Year. Great, because they were all incredibly tasty along with the good luck.Thanks again.

Joanna, green lentils won't be the same at all in this. The red lentils dissolve much more quickly and are milder in flavor. It might taste okay with green ones, but the cooking time and flavor will be very different. (I already answered that in a comment above, so I just copied the answer again here.)

Just found this site yesterday, it's fantastic! I'm on Phase one of South Beach and all the recipes look great. :-)

I did want to point out, however, that some of the recipes use Spike seasoning, which despite its claims does contain MSG (referred to in the ingredients as 'high flavor yeast' - the second ingredient, so there's a lot of it). So those allergic to MSG should not use Spike seasoning.

Just wanted to tell you how much we loved this stew! I've never cooked with lentils before, but the recipe made it easy. I added some turkey sausage (as suggested by another reader) and it turned out beautifully! This will definitely become one of our staples. Thank you for sharing your terrific recipes!

I made this a few weeks ago and it was very tastey! I will definately make this again. I love that its a vegan recipe. We are trying to cut down to eating meat only once or twice a week so this is wonderful!Next time I think I will some carrots and zucchini. Thanks for sharing!

I just found your blog and this was the first recipe I tried. I *love* it, the lime juice just makes it. My husband loves lentil soup in general and this was a big hit. Had it for dinner last night and eating it for lunch today. (i added some chopped red pepper too, had lots in the fridge!)

I made this last night and it was wonderful!! I love sour cream and thought I'd want to add a big dollop to the stew after it was done, but it was plenty flavorful without it. Nice and hearty...we dunked some multigrain bread in it and it was fantastic. Thanks for sharing this!

Thanks for joining the conversation! I love hearing from readers and even though I can't always reply to every comment, I will always answer specific questions on a recipe as soon as possible. Sometimes I'm answering by iPhone, so my replies may be short!

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